1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to control for starting an internal combustion engine that is mounted on a hybrid vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In a hybrid vehicle equipped with a rotary electric machine and an internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine may be started while the vehicle is running. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-182179 (JP-A-2007-182179) describes a technique for, when an internal combustion engine is started while a hybrid vehicle is running, retarding the ignition timing at the time of starting the internal combustion engine as the vehicle speed decreases.
Incidentally, a hybrid vehicle carries out any one of control for driving the vehicle using a rotary electric machine and control for driving the vehicle using both the rotary electric machine and an internal combustion engine. It is necessary to determine the appropriate ignition timing at the time of starting the internal combustion engine depending on which one of these controls is given priority. This is because the state of the internal combustion engine at the time of starting the internal combustion engine may vary depending on which control is carried out in preference. In a vehicle control device described in the above JP-A-2007-182179, such a problem is not considered, so there is room for improvement in determining the ignition timing.